As usual a warm welcome to members and guests on Fishing With Rod on a snowy evening from Chilliwack.
My day started a daybreak on my usual Saturday morning tour of our local rivers to see what the night hawks and others have been up to on an assault on our environment. The sky is overcast, 2 degrees of frost and a strong East Wind. Snow looked to be in the offering later today I think as I head towards the Vedder. What a different day than yesterday that was such a beautiful a day to be fishing.
I arrive just as daylight is breaking around 6:30 these days and see about 8 anglers fence posted into their chosen spot on the run.Included in the number are some regulars that seem to fish every day.
They seem to be suffering from the cold as they look frigid as some are hunched over as the wind was blasting into their faces. I was happy to be in the warm Leaf Mobile sipping on my second cup of coffee.
I leave them to their task as I continue my tour and job of picking up a few tins,bottles and some garbage along the left bank of the Vedder.
I return about 30 minutes later, now on the right bank and the 8 are still at it, none have seemed to have left with a fish. I decide to try a few casts opposite the group and when I ask one of them anything doing, his reply is "nothing yet" and I believe him. I decide time to move on and check things out on the Fraser River as far as the gravel mining goes.
On the way I stop for a double double at Tim Hortons, their coffee sure tastes better than mine from the thermos. I bet the anglers I left behind would have liked a cup also at this time.
I then stop and chat with 'The Master" who is working at Chilliwack Dart and Tackle today. I have to pick up some 8 pound test leader as well. I do a couple of other community stops for Chilliwack Minor Hockey's hockey day in Chilliwack where I help out. I started this event 17 years ago when 2:40 was playing Atom. I will be playing music once again for the 4 divisions, Atom, Peewee, Bantam and Midget, all played next Saturday. A fun time but my head will be rocking after 8 hours of playing rock music.
I arrive at Peg Leg bar and find newly dumped garbage and find some ID in one dump spot that I will pass on to a Conservation Officier. As I take some pictures of this mess a motorcycle rider stops by and asks what I am doing. I tell him about the Chilliwack Vedder River Cleanup Coalition and the work we are doing on the Vedder to try and keep it clean. He says he and his friend were watching me thinking I was going to be dumping garbage out of the Leaf Mobile.
I say it is garbage I had picked up and we have a laugh about this. Of course he was concerned that with all this area being used for a garbage dump here another gate would go up. I said this is a possibility, maybe they will clean some of it up but there is so much it would take a long time to do it.
I then go to Gill Road and it is around noon so I have lunch and count the gravel trucks that are still trucking out the aggregate. I count about 2 trucks every 5 minutes. They are stock piling it on site today. I then pick up some betty's, corkies, spoons, unbroken clay pigeons and one bar weight along the still dropping river edge. After about 30 minutes with the wind blowing worse than on the Vedder I move on once again.
My next stop is at the Agassiz Rosedale Bridge area and I am surprised the road and bridge structure is being built out to Ferry Island. There was a notice last Friday in the Chilliwack Progress saying there was 30 days to write concerns to the Minister of Transport. I donot know how work can be started before that time and I wonder if all permits from FOC were in place, another file to look into. Rodney may post some pictures of what is going on, dropping rip rap into the river with pink fry migration on now.
I then head to check on the small creek that I reported on last week where I saw a coho doe trying to spawn in a creek that had all the bank cover removed. I donot see the coho so I wonder if a predator got her as no cover left. I notice her redd was larger than last week. On a follow up on this last week I was told FOC will be looking into the conditions of the permit that said shade trees were to be planted. Will be watching that this does happen.
As I prepare to leave the snow begins to fall. I arrive at the Vedder around 4 and is the snow ever coming down. It is almost horizontal from the blowing East wind that is stronger than this morning. Maybe to keep warm and delay getting out of the Leaf Mobile I phone Rodney and talk about today's events and other things for 20 minutes or so. As I finally prepare to leave for the river, Ray stops and say he got two this morning including a hatchery that was being cooked for supper as we spoke.
Maybe it was the report from Ray that drove me on with the thought of maybe catching my 25th of the season but I thought how crazy I was to be out in such condition but I guess this is steelhead weather.
As I brave the East wind blowing in my now chilled face I see only one angler and as I walk by him he packs it in, smart guy.
I now see no one, where are the guys that say the river is too crowded, lots of runs all empty tonight.
I settle in to the "Diving Board Run" (Steelieman Run) not a time to do any diving in the cold water of the Vedder. I have had that experience a few weeks ago and do not want to repeat this act of carelessness.
I work from the tailout of the run upstream not the usual practice I know but I do not want to do any extra walking in such dire conditions. Casting was difficult to say the least and not every drift was much good. Besides the guides were icing up and the reel cranky. As I get to the top of the run down goes the float the first fish for Maple Leaf Drennan #3, in surprise I strike and what do you know a fish is on. I see it flash nicely in the clear water conditions and as I beach this steelhead 5 minutes later I see it is about a 7 to 8 pound hatchery buck. I briefly think about retaining it but it is too cold to write in my license and besides I am only about 5 minutes into the trip and I have a fish. Before I send him on his way I snap a picture. I am now thinking maybe there is more out there but no more bites in the next 45 minutes of fishing time.
I have only the company of 5 goldeneye ducks who are combining feeding on the migrating pink fry and the two drakes are busy courting the 3 females, in weather like this. Love overcomes all I guess.
I snap a photo of them in the closing darkness. The snow now starting to cover the bar.
Time to head home for a hot bath as I have developed a hole in my waders and it is starting to have a uncomfortable feeling. It had been a long time since I have fished in a blizzard like today but I was pleased with the results.
I leave the ducks to their thing and the released fish to his home, the river, I scramble over the now snow covered rip rap to the Leaf Mobile, the end of another day and another journal. completed.
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Topic: Fishing In A Blizzard, The Journal For Feb. 25 (Read 3944 times)